Seventh-seeded Manteca staged a late comeback but fell short against No. 2 West Park 10-9 in a Sac-Joaquin Section Division III quarterfinal Friday in Roseville.
The Metropolitan Conference co-champion Panthers (24-6) will face No. 3 Yuba City (25-5) in a best-of-three semifinal starting on Monday. Manteca ends its season at 21-8 but loses just five seniors to graduation.
The Buffaloes had scoring opportunities throughout but could not string together enough clutch hits. Four West Park pitchers combined to walk 12 and hit three Manteca batters and were victimized by four errors. The Buffs did not capitalize, stranding 14 runners.
The Panthers pounced early, leading 7-4 after four innings. Manteca rallied for six unanswered runs for a 9-7 advantage that was short-lived, as West Park answered with three runs in the bottom of the sixth to jump ahead for good.
Six of the runs given up by Manteca pitchers Cameron Jimenez (3 1/3 innings, seven hits, three walks) and Jimmy Burns (2 2/3 innings, four hits) were unearned, as the defense committed three costly errors.
Freshman Brody Carabello sparked the attack, driving in a pair of runs. Devon Richardson and Preston Smith both plated three runs. Nick Garcia and Carson Sablan each had an RBI.
Jayden McNeal went 3-for-4 with two runs, six RBIs, a triple and a home run for West Park.
Division IV
Roseville, 8, Sierra 3
The No. 3-seeded Tigers (18-11) opened with three-run barrages in each of the first two innings and cruised to the semifinal round where they’ll take on No. 2 Oakdale in a best-of-three series starting next Monday.
Rudy Barney bashed a three-run homer in the fifth inning for No. 11 Sierra (9-18), which ultimately could not overcome four defensive errors that led to five unearned runs.
Wyatt Bauer went 3-for-3 with two doubles for the offense. Ryan Reyes contributed a 2-for-4 effort and a run.
Division VI
Colfax 17, Ripon Christian 7 (6)
The No. 6 Knights (14-11) led 5-1 midway through the third inning on Thursday, but Colfax scored 12 unanswered runs to take the lead for good.
The two teams combined for 28 hits in the onslaught.
Noah DeBruyn (run), Jordan Luisi (run), Trenton Cloward (run, RBI) and Stadtler Postma (double, run, RBI) belted two knocks apiece. Maxx Anderson (double), Talen Tameling and Ricky Van Unen each contributed an RBI.
Tyler McCabe went 4-for-4 with two runs and three RBIs for Colfax. Wynston Genest went 2-for-3 with a double, plating four runs and driving in three others.
